I decided since Facebook exists primarily to log me out every thirty seconds, (just to tick me off) I should probably post the pictures here. I’ve only been doing these for a couple of months (Sunday Afternoon Anything But Writing Time), so I’ll post them in approximate order from newest first to oldest last. That way my awfulness will seem relative.

All of these are characters from either Writer Nerd Game Night (which I’m going to start posting a fun serial from hereon the blog) where me and several other novelists and book reviewers get together to play Legend of the Five Rings, or from a game I’ve been running for my kids. There is balance in all things, so by day I’m a highly paid finance professional in the evil military industrial complex, by night I’m a jet setting fancy pants bestselling action novelist, I shoot manly guns in my free time, and once a month I play imaginary magical samurai. Nobody can ever accuse me of not being diverse in my interests.

These are all 28-32mm.

Danjuro

This one still needs to have the base finished, but I’m pretty pleased with how the flesh tones worked out. The figure is one of the Clan Wars from Valiant.

the ronin Akimi

From Reaper, still need to base this one too. (well, I still need to do a lot of those, but it is easier to just do a bunch at one time). Overall, I’m happy with this one. The face turned out pretty good too.

Bayushi Kuronobu

From Perry Brothers. I’m still going to do a little detail work. The base is an experiment. I simply made a little clay square, so I’d have something to hold onto while I painted. This was my first attempt at free handing a flag. No, it doesn’t say anything. Though I have some other ones that I’m working on that it actually does, and those came out great.

Yasuki Boketsu

This picture turned out fuzzy, which is too bad because the armor on this guy turned out great. Probably the best armor I’ve done so far. From Valiant.

Yoritomo Buwa

I’m pretty pleased with this one. I still suck at blending and highlighting. From Reaper.

Otomo Yuni

For whatever reason, female faces are really hard. I’m still trying to figure those out. From Valiant.

From Reaper. I thought this one turned out kind of boring and dark, so I gave him the meatball headband and the yin/yang on the armor, which I thought turned out pretty cool.

Tamori Fubatsu

From Valiant. Another one where the pic doesn’t do the armor justice. The wash on this one really came out pretty cool.

Misato the Forest Killer

This one was actually the head off of one figure and the body off of another, leftover from when I made Kuni Magatsu. Both from Valiant. It turned out pretty good.

Shinjo Braga

This and the next are from the old discontinued Clan Wars minis that I found at Nobleknight games. This one got a light wash.

Moto Khano

And this one got a black wash. So even though the two had the exact same paint scheme, the difference between the two is drastic when you look at them in daylight.

Ikoma Katsu

More discontinued Clan Wars. I was really happy with this one until I started dinking around with too much white at the end.

Hida Makoto

This is my guy. Notice the resemblance? Actually this was the very first one I painted. However it came out really crappy, (I had zero idea what I was doing), so this is it again after I came back and tried to touch it up. The base coat was actually done with Testors Model paint, and it just looked… gloopy. I’m pretty happy with the touch up though, and though the camera doesn’t catch it, the cording on the armor looks awesome.

Kakita Fujo

Another early attempt with clumpy model paint, that I then went back and redid with a lighter paint scheme. (using Reaper paints now) when Steve brought a new character into the game. This redo didn’t work as well as the Makoto, but overall looked much better than the original.

Kuni Magatsu

My first attempt at modding. This head came off one figure and the body off of another. Paul Genesse has a very specific (and unsettling) character and none of the existing ones really seemed to fit. The kabuki face actually looks pretty sweet in person.

Kakita Chiyoko

From Valiant. This one came out pretty good, but the face seems a little flat. I may go back and try to redo it with some more color.

Another one of the originals that I did with crappy model paint, and then revisited with a better paint job. And yes, that is supposed to be an eye patch and scars.

Kitsuki Tsuze

I do believe these were the first eye balls I did that didn’t totally suck. Though if you look at him from the front he’s got a bit of a lazy eye thing going on. That’s okay. It gives him character. (or so I tell myself)

Shoshuro Kage

From Reaper. Painted because one of my daughters wanted a ninja girl. Luckily we actually added one to the Writer Nerd Game Night campaign afterwards. Looking back, I used too much flat black (but it is a ninja, I know!) and so there just wasn’t enough contrast. That’s okay, I’ve got a couple more ninjas since to experiment with.

Tsurchi Machio

From the discontinued Clan Wars. The eyes are too cartoony and I used too much black to highlight.

Hida O-Hinku

My oldest daughter’s first exposure to tabletop RPGs was when she got to be a “special guest star” during Writer Nerd Game Night. Of course, I couldn’t find a samurai girl with a great big ax anywhere, so I filed down a sword and glued an ax head on for her. It is pink because her ono is called Momo Iro Chou, or the Pink Butterfly, and it is that color because it has been stained by the blood and tears of a hundred generations of her family’s enemies… And yes, she made that up herself.

Ide Todo

One of my earliest attempts. The face came out a little clumpy, but that’s because he’s a well travelled man.

Tsurchi Yumi

After oldest daughter returned and reported to the other kids about how much fun she had at Writer Nerd Game Night… Correia Nerd Game Night was born. This one belongs to daughter #2. Considering I had absolutely no idea what I was doing at this point, this one still holds up well.

Toritaka Iabuchi

Togashi Jibbo

My son’s first character. Of course he wanted a tattoed Dragon monk, (imagine the Hulk crossed with Spiderman only with flaming death fists and you can see the appeal for my son) and the (very specifically requested) tattoos just came out as black lumps.

I’ve got a ton more of these at home. Basically I’ve picked up a package or two from every manufacturer of samurai type miniatures on the market. I’m trying really hard to make Sunday a day of rest, (which as a workaholic is a whole lot harder to do than it sounds), so Sunday afternoon is now arts and crafts time. The kids have joined in, and they are learning to paint along with me. Luckily, Old Glory has figures that cost about a buck a pop.

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Nice, Larry! I’m actually working up a ~40mm of a character I’m writing myself…

If you can call it a “miniature”, that is… the character is a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter that’s achieved Artificial Intelligence and a Real Bad Attitude, and has been having itself upgraded and rebuilt with pieces scavenged from other aircraft programs including the avionics and nose sensors from a wrecked Pave Low–Skippy the Orc would give his right nut to fly the thing, it’s basically an American-built “super-Hind”.

“It is pink because her ono is called Momo Iro Chou, or the Pink Butterfly, and it is that color because it has been stained by the blood and tears of a hundred generations of her family’s enemies… And yes, she made that up herself.”

Hey Larry,
I like it, my fiance and myself play 40k, so I have about that many minis times around a thousand. In fact I have been meaning to ask if I can get you to send me an electronic copy of the MHI smiley face that is scaleable so I can make some decals for my Imperial Guardsman. I have a Vendetta set aside for Skippy, and a couple squads who will wear the MHI brand. My army is kind of a mix of BSG meets MHI, meets aliens. The paint jobs arent too bad though.

Paint the eyes over your basic flesh tone and the cut them down with a mid-range flesh. Visualize the eyes you have been painting in 1:1 scale and they would be the size of Idaho potatos. Work on cutting them down and your faces will improve dramatically.
But other improvement is being noted.

About the Author

Larry Correia is the award winning, New York Times bestselling author of the Monster Hunter International Series, the Grimnoir Chronicles, and the Dead Six thrillers.
All of my books are available in eBook format from the Kindle store or at Baen.com, and in audiobook on Audible.com.
I'm on Facebook or follow me on Twitter at @monsterhunter45.